Music: The Fall of Troy

The Fall of Troy just released In the Unlikely Event, their fourth album.

“I’m very excited to be doing this again,” says drummer Andrew Forsman. “Towards the end of our last run, it got kind of boring.”

In a departure from the band’s last two releases, Unlikely Event was neither a rushed product (like Manipulator) nor a grandiose concept disc (like 2008’s Phantom of the Horizon, an EP made up of songs written more than five years ago). Instead, the album’s tracks are loosely framed around an idea described by Forsman as “how relationships affect people — not necessarily romantic relationships but friendships and family relationships as well.”

The resulting album stretches a bevy of unusual muscles, demonstrating the group’s desire to use one genre as a vessel to move elsewhere.

As with the rest of their discography, everything is rooted in the ambitious guitar acrobatics of Post Hardcore, but as Unlikely Event plays on, their sound transforms: “Battleship Graveyard” is an apocalyptic lightning storm dominated by scratchy caterwauls; “A Classic Case of Transference” turns from a metallic contusion into a merry-go-round swirl; “Nobody’s Perfect” wanders like early ‘90s Emo; and the Pop-Punk esque “Webs” could pass for a lighter-waving ballad (until the fuzz begins to collect). Calling The Fall of Troy high-minded would be inaccurate (they can be far too sullen and gruff), but they certainly aren’t afraid of taking stabs at new territory.

The Fall of Troy plays The Mad Hatter with Javelin Dance, The Paramedic, I Am The Messenger and Says The Suns. Get show details and read Reyan Ali's interview with the band here.